My ongoing series on cracks on our properties and in our homes (click here to read them) have resulted in some emails from Active Rain members about what kind of trees are appropriate for residential properties, and here's the first part of my two-part answer. 

RUSSEL'S

GARDENING

HANDBOOK

I'll keep this to a very general discussion for the membership here because a more detailed discussion of root systems can get very tedious very quickly -- which means very boring to the general masses.

Some music for your reading pleasure


"East of Ginger Trees," Seals & Crofts, 1972

1. First, understand the difference between a tree and a bush. A tree typically has one main trunk while bushes, regardless of how large they get, have several trunks. Some plants that would naturally be bushes can be trained as trees, such as the crepe myrtle and the rubber plant.
2. Second, there are two kinds of trees, pine trees and hardwoods. Generally, hardwoods lose their leaves in the fall while pine trees remain green year-round.
3. Third, there are three different types of root systems: tap root, heart root, and flat root (sometimes called lateral root system). Some foresters and arborists will combine the heart root system and flat root system into one system, the fibrous root system. For our purposes here, it's important to use three types.

Generally, a tree with a tap root system (#1 in the figure above) has one large main root that goes straight down with only a few lateral roots. Trees of this type usually are nuts (hickory, walnut, etc.) and white oaks.

A tree with a heart root system (#2 in the figure above) has several larger roots below the surface of the ground. These trees include the red oaks, sycamore, and many pine trees.

A tree with a flat root system (#3 in the figure above) will have surface roots, many of which will be visible above the ground. These trees include many that are grown commercially for furniture or food, such as birch, beech, and sugar maple.

A good general rule of thumb -- very general because there are a lot of exceptions -- is that a tree's root system will go as deep into the ground as the tree is tall and spread out as far as the branches do, called the drip line. If you follow that guideline, though, with trees that are commercially available for planting on our properties, you shouldn't have any problem with tree roots damaging your foundation or tree branches damaging your roof.

The trees that cause the most problems to our foundations are those with a lateral root system since many of the roots grow along the surface of the soil. Once they run into the foundation wall, they'll grow under it but continue to try to grow nearer the surface to get more water, thereby lifting and cracking your foundation.

In our next blog entry, we'll discuss three common and commercially available trees that really shouldn't be sold in stores and nurseries because they never come with appropriate warnings about the damage that they can do to our properties. All three have a flat root system.

Readers who might have questions about specific trees on their properties should feel free to email me a picture, or post it here in the comment section, and I'll help you identify it and answer any questions about it. Along with my Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Texas A&M University, I have a huge gardening library.

Be sure to scroll down for titles and quick links to some of my other blog entries.
 

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Some of Russel's blog entries

1. 12 reasons why I won't comment on your blogs
2. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: i'm Little Johnny, and i'm a plumber's son
3. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: i'm Little Johnny, and i broke my arm
4. Russel's Gardening Handbook: A great and interesting plant for those with brown thumbs
5. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Little Johnny, go outside and play.
6. Sometimes it's just a question of semantics and definitions
7. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Little Johnny! You stink!
8. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Mommy! Mommy! Come Here! Come Here!
9. Winterizing homes in San Diego in September
10. Russel's Gardening Handbook: How to tell if your landscape watering is too much
11. A true real estate nightmare affecting hundreds of people
12. Russel's Gardening Handbook: Look! It's a field of... Grain? Cotton? Corn?
13. I purposefully burned a bridge yesterday
14. What part of that don't you understand? (Reading 101, English 101, & Spanish 101)
15. Out of sight, out of mind, skip the work, charge for it
16. "How much will it cost?" "$399 plus a $100 aggravation surcharge."
17. In a home inspection, if the thing works, the thing works
18. What do you do when deceit is obvious?
19. Sometimes it really is that simple (electric again)
20. Sometimes it really is that simple (attic)